Northern New Territories Hash House Harriers

Drunks commonly seen roaming the hills of Hong Kong at night

• What is it? An array of nationalities of all known genders and ages. Dogs too.
• When is it? Every Wednesday at 7:30pm.
• Where is it? A different trail, a different location every week. The stamping ground covers from Castle Peak to Sha Tau Kok, from Mai Po to Sai Kung and everywhere in between. Or, as our name suggests, anywhere in the New Territories.
• How do I find out about it? Check this site’s home page. Directions to the next run are usually posted the previous weekend.
• What do I bring? A torch, a change of clothes, some cash and a sense of humour.
• How do I join? You don’t. Everybody is welcome. There are no membership or registration forms, and there are no rules!!!
• Contact us here

We run every Wednesday night whatever the weather starting promptly at 7:30pm. We also have a Saturday afternoon run every couple of months.

If you’re new to hashing we generally refer to it as cooperative running rather than competitive running – in fact doing the latter will get you an extra drink in the circle after the run.

Our runs are usually 5-8km, depending on how much rough stuff there is and how much effort the hare has put in, and we often – but not always – have a shorter or walkers trail for those who are injured or not capable of/interested in running.

Runs start at 7:30pm. At this time, the GM calls the rabble to order and asks the hare to give the pack a brief description of the run before sending them on their way.

The run follows a trail which has been marked by the hare using chalk arrows, flour and bog roll (for the bits where chalk or flour won’t be visible). Everybody should call “trail” as loudly as they can whenever they see trail markings. This makes things easier for those running behind.

At various points on the run, you will find checks which are marked with a circle with a “C” inside it. A check is a break in the trail; the run can continue in any direction from a check. The first hashers to arrive at a check search for the trail giving the slower runners a chance to catch up and have a bit of a breather.

Sometimes you’ll come to a check-back, marked with a “CB”, usually inscribed within a circle.  If you get to one of these, you have to go back towards the last check and look for possible routes off to the side. The trail will be found off a side route.

You may also come to a split, marked by arrows pointing in two different directions. Trail will be marked both ways, but one of them will end in a”T”, indicating that you have to go back to the split and take the other way – unless the split has an “R” and a “W” marked on it, indicating a rambo (or runner) trail and a wimp (or walker) course. If all goes well, after about an hour everybody arrives back at the start, more or less together.

After the run is out of the way, the serious stuff starts. The bucket or esky is brimful of cold beer and softies, and you drink and gab off to your heart’s content. Then the GM calls the circle. A hash circle needs to be experienced, it cannot be described. In the circle, visitors are welcomed, good deeds are rewarded with beer (very rare) and bad deeds are punished, also with beer. The circle is the highlight of the evening and is what hashing is all about, apart from the run, which is what hashing is all about.

When the circle is over, the stayers finish off the beers and everybody finds their way home, or they go to a dai pai dong (cooked food stall) or similar for a lively meal.

Don’t wear new shoes unless you’re prepared to drink out of them 🙂

How to join the Northern

To join the Northern New Territories Hash, you must be either male or female, or some combination of either. Some hashes are single sex clubs but we are desperate and will take anybody, including dogs.

If you fit the above criteria, just show up at a few runs. The hash isn’t for everybody so you’ll want to try us out before you commit yourself. If, after two or three runs, you think we are a good bunch of people and you want to keep running with us, you can consider yourself to have joined.

Cost

Running hash is cheap! Your first run is FREE. You don’t have to join, but if you do it’s not pricey. Just HK$60 a run, or $40 for the fairer sex, for all the piss you can drink and a great night of hashing in the hills.

With acknowledgments to Melbourne Lakeside Hash